Is our rich culture really stifling our country's goal of being a superpower?

India the Cricket Conqueror, India the Massive Market, India the Enormous Economy, India the Growth Giant, etcetera, etcetera. You get the drift. I’m sure you’re already beginning to see my stand on this preposterous notion. I feel that India is on its way to becoming the next superpower and it can very well do so without sacrificing its rich and diverse cultural heritage.

A modern superpower in my eyes is, “A state that has the capacity to project dominating power and influence anywhere on the globe.”

Indian economy grossing over 1.237 trillion USD is currently the 12^th largest in the world and she is the 4^th largest by purchasing power parity. She is, at present, the second fastest growing major economy and she has second largest labour force with 516.3 million people. She is also the second largest producer of food. A survey conducted by London based think-tank, Legatum institute, showed that India will become an economic superpower by 2030. Even the late Dhirubhai Ambani was confident that India would soon become an economic superpower. After hearing the above stated facts and figures, would you not say that Mr. Ambani was almost prophetic?

India has the third largest military force in the world, consisting of the army, the navy, the air force, the coast guard and the paramilitary forces. She has provided over 55000 personnel to the UN peace keeping organization. She is one of the few countries to possess nuclear arms. She has several indigenous aircrafts and missiles. As we can see, India is not only an economic superpower but also a military great.

Still in doubt of Indian supremacy? She is an active member of the IMF, WTO and the commonwealth. She plays a pivotal role in many important summits and is considered to be the leader of the developing world. She has recently achieved her goal of procuring a seat on the UN Security Council, through sustained and dedicated efforts over the last nineteen years. She was the fourth nation worldwide, to found a national space agency and develop cryogenic engine technology. Now, what do you say?

This argument was born because of certain people in our midst who believe that our rich cultural heritage stands in the way of our dominance. I would like to remind them that, most of India’s income comes from tourism. Now let us think, why would tourists visit India? Hmm. Difficult one? Not really. They would probably do so to do some sightseeing (of Indian monuments and museums) enjoy Indian cuisine, buy Indian handicrafts, visit Indian villages, wear Indian clothes and take part in Indian festivals. Last time I checked, all that came under culture, did it not? All over the world, people flock to cinema halls and theatres to watch Indian movies and theatricals. Are they not a reflection of the rich Indian culture? The Ramayana and Mahabharata, the great Indian epics are read by millions of people around the globe along with other Indian cultural texts. Stories of great Indian kingdoms and rulers like Akbar, Ashoka and Vikramaditya are told and retold as bedtime stories and as history lessons to millions of students everyday worldwide. Unfortunately, people still believe that our heritage is an “Obstruction” on our path to greatness.

I feel that our country, the world’s most populous democracy despite its young age has seen and experienced a lot. She has already faced oppression from one superpower and survived. Now she is poised and ready to rock the world stage. World leaders like Obama and Clinton are right in telling the west to buck up, for I feel that the world is awakening to a new dawn, a dawn where India Would Be The Sun.

However, for India to achieve this dream of superpower status, a measure of national pride has to be instilled in us, as citizens of India. We must understand that India, without its wide range of cultural practices, its glorious past and its rich heritage would not be India at all. It would be no more than a sheath without a sword. It would be just another characterless nation.

Interview with The Dark Lord

He is vile, despicable and ruthless. He is considered, “The Most Evil Wizard for Hundreds and Hundreds of Years.” He is a sadistic psychopath who is devoid of pity and remorse. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, “You Know Who” he is. Let us all give a warm welcome to the almighty Dark Lord on tonight’s episode of, “Interviewers extraordinaire.”
*Audience applause and a few shouts of terrified people as The Dark Lord makes a bold imposing entrance dressed in his typical jet black robes.*
Dark Lord: AVADA KEDAVRA!
*Flash of green light and soon after a limp lifeless body is rushed out of the eerily silent studio. The lord looks at the camera, seats himself and smiles with a sense of hospitable hostility.*

Interviewer: First things first, may I address you by your true name without having to face the prospect of certain death?
Dark Lord: If that helps me get home any faster and and get back to plotting against Potter, then sure.

Interviewer: Very well then, Good evening Voldemort Sir. As you have such a busy schedule, we might as well begin right away.
Voldemort: Shoot then. Please, however, do not try to agitate me.

I: So how does it feel to be among the most hated wizards of all time?
V: It does not please me in the least. All I wish for is a unified world order where all bow down to a common supreme authority. Namely, me.

I: Hmmm. That seems like an interesting governance process. We wish you luck in your ventures. So moving on, Would you let us know about your childhood?
V: Please, I do not like to touch upon this particular story. However, those interested may buy my autobiography, which is sold under less than fair terms at all major bookstores at a very reasonably exorbitant price.

I: Publishing your memoirs is a great initiative to reach out to the few supporters and admirers that you possess. Who is your idol?
V: Hitler of course, he was an intelligent, cunning megalomaniac just like myself.

I: What is your greatest fear?
V: Rainbows.

I: What is the greatest work of nature?
V: me. Well they could have given me better looks and a nose. I would’ve been perfect then.

I: What is your favourite book?
V: Nicci French’s Killing me softly.

I: What are your religious beliefs?
V: I have already touched upon this subject. I am the supreme authority.

I: What is your deepest desire?
V: World peace.

I: What?!
V: Yes. I wish to be all powerful and eliminate all those noble enough to stand in my path to immortality and revolt against me. Simple yet efficient.

I: Are you annoyed by the fact that Osama tipped you in the most wanted criminals chart?
V: Are you really naive enough to imagine that you muggles were able to locate and neutralize him all by yourselves?

I: How do you spend the average day?
V: I wake up to some piping hot coffee, read the newspapers and laugh maniacally at the depravity of the world. Then of course my favourite pastime is plotting against “The Boy Who Lived.” There is also the more than frequent killing and torturing of innocents.

I: Very eventful a life you lead Sir. How does it feel to have your deeply thought out plans constantly thwarted by a less than competent young wizard, time and time again?
V: I just decided to grant you a wish.
I: You don’t say? Thank you so much Sire.
V: A death wish. AVADA KEDAVRA!!

*Second flash of green light in the still silent studio. The Lord bows down gracefully and walks off with an air of uncaring, untouchable and terrifying innocence. Audience quietly exits after.*

This work is purely imaginative, based on characters and ideas from the works of J.K. Rowling and is not intended to infringe any copyrights/patents.

An Old Blind Man

Everyday, the old blind man would walk that same expanse of road, the same road that he had been treading for over 10 years. Everyday, he would tread that road selling his plastic wares so he could finally earn himself a ridiculously scanty meal for the night. Life was dull, dreary and difficult for Siddhartha, but the old blind man never once stole or begged. He could not even bring himself to borrow some pennies, not least because of his inability to pay a loan back, but because it was against his ideals. If his sales for the day failed to earn him a meal, he would punish his incompetence in generating sufficient income by staying hungry. Such were the ideals of the old blind man.

Everyday was torture for the poor man. However, he never broke his efforts, even for a few hours. He would arrive at the street at daybreak, loudly chant his advertisements while walking up and down the street through the day and at the fall of dusk, he would skillfully count his hard earned money, eat his frugal dinner at a nearby tea stall and then retire for the night.

Everyday was covered in a black veil for the old blind man. Being blind by birth, he had never ever seen the world. He did not know what the people looked like. To him, everyone and everything looked the same, Pitch Black. Human emotions were but a proof-less theorem to him. For him, everyday was a battle, a stern test of his resilience.

One fine day, he was going about his monotonous business, when he was approached by a young boy, or so it seemed to the blind old man. Quoth the boy, “My father is dying. Please give me an anna so I can pay the doctor’s fee”. The blind old man, dear generous soul that he was, handed over his purse, containing his entire day’s earnings, without any hesitation to the boy in question. The boy decently thanked him and made off with the money.

This incident repeated itself everyday for a few days, the boy who never once revealed his identity made the benevolent man part with his hard earned money.

Only a week later did the old blind man hear gossip about a certain boy, who had been faking his father’s death, so he could steal money for a candy. After a week, the old man had lost a pound while the boy had gained three. The blind man however, undeterred, continues his pursuit of happyness.

Everyday, weak helpless men like Siddhartha are capitalized upon by such greedy, well off men. The world is in need of a Robin Hood. We should not oppress those less fortunate than us; instead, we should help them and give them a shot at a better life. The weight of the world should not lie in the hands of a few. Our avarice should not cause us to oppress those who are less fortunate than us.

Life

This very word has the power to invoke one minute thought in the deepest darkest corners of my powerful brain. It would have been great if this process had ended here itself as you would have been spared from reading a boring and tiresome description of my mental, sanity or well, insanity, as you would refer to it. This thought however, is not very merciful and multiplies like a virus, taking over my stem cells until my mind becomes a blazing inferno of thoughts colliding with one another, quite literally, “messing up my head”

We may treat life in different ways. One way of looking at it would be to treat it as one of the most amazing and valuable gifts that could possibly be given to us by a mysterious, unknown friend. It is an opportunity for our souls to experience varied emotions like grief, fear, anger, happiness, pain, love and ecstasy to name just a few. It is like a path, a path we create by cutting through the thick branches and jumping over the rocks that are the problems in our lives. Life is a gift, a one of a kind gift, one that we should utilize to the optimum.

There are yet others who think that life is naught but a meaningless progression. It is just a long gruelling wait to death, which itself comes at a time of its own choosing. Life is as insubstantial as a “walking shadow” according to some. It is just a fictional space of the soul’s imagination where it dons new clothes and treads through new lands only to awaken at dawn and realize that none of it was real and that it had never been clothed in a dusty body.

When these thoughts flood my brain and pound so hard on the inside walls of my mind, I see how insignificant I really am in comparison to the force that binds all living beings together, the one common factor that all living things possess.

Life is a block of marble. We are the sculptors and our actions are our tools. We can now choose to transform the block into a spectacle that parallels the grandeur and beauty of Michelangelo’s statue of David. Or we can just reduce it to meaningless rubble. The choice is entirely our own.

False Impressions

Who would not agree that we live in peaceful times? Everyone in the world is happy, leading harmonious lives and enjoying equal rights and liberty, which is guaranteed to one and all by the constitutions of their countries and the laws of world bodies, right? Why dies this statement sound so shallow, so wrong?

Well, let me put it this way. Nothing short of the statement, “Man is Immortal” is farther from the truth. We see what we want to see, we believe what we want to believe. We like to think of the world as a calm, beautiful lake in the middle of a lush green valley. Picturesque, is it not? This however is no more than a mirage, created by us to disguise and conceal the ugly truth. In reality, our world is actually a lake, a lake of piping hot magma in a red hot crater of an active volcano.

Everyday, every passing minute of every hour, the poor are oppressed by the rich. The so called superior races and castes control the inferior ones. Whether it be the blacks scorned by the whites or the Jews looked down upon by many, the story is the same. Oppression, neglect, desperation, jealousy, anger, agony and suffering. These are the emotions faced by a large fraction of the human population. No cure has been found for this epidemic, this deadly scourge that we call, racism.

Muslims vs. the Hindus. Who is right? God knows. Hindus treat the Muslims as ruthless killers and terrorists. While a minority among the Muslim community does resort to such crimes, they cannot all be branded as terrorists. An equal number of Hindus resort to such crimes as well. However, instead of resolving differences and tying the loose bonds, the fighting continues ands with it, terror and oppression reign as tyrants while innocents are forced o be martyrs.

Millions of people all over the world, do not get two square meals a day. A large fraction of children are either undernourished or suffer from serious diseases. Wives are ill treated by husbands, kids are forced to work under disgusting conditions and young girls are forced to sell their bodies. Young boys and girls are even taught “The Art” of Begging from the day they are born.

We must open our eyes to this monstrosity before it becomes the cause of our downfall. Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King were among the few people who tried to make a difference. However these few people cannot do it alone. We must all join hands for this cause. We can all work together to stop this force. Every morning, when we wake up, we can make a choice. We can choose to write history in the 86400 seconds given to us. We can spark a change, be the difference and douse the firs of our world. Or we can live silently, silently ignoring the troubles of our world and enjoy the cool tangy breeze of our make believe valley.